Breathe Me
by husmcn
Summary: Bella Swan has it all: amazing career, loving family incredible friends. She's a life saver on the outside, but on the inside, pain and guilt rip her apart. What happens when her past comes back to haunt her? DocElla & DILFWard
1. Prologue

The trek out of the hospital waiting room seemed endless and exhausting. My mind was a blank other than the same thought repeating itself over and over again.

_I've failed again. _

_I've failed again._

_I've failed again._

This vicious, never ending cycle of failure and loss would never leave me. I was always bound to death and losing the ones I loved.

The walk back was easily forgotten – I was completely numb. The usual hospital smell that I'd grown so accustomed to throughout the years was now causing unwelcome bile to arise. The stares of my colleagues thought nothing of, hushed whispers easily forgotten. Instead, I was stunned into a searing silence other than the pounding of my heart.

Mine shouldn't have been the one still beating.

I didn't deserve it.

I should've done better.

_I've failed again._

My mind was so blank that when I was somewhat in tune with my surroundings, I'd realized that I'd passed my office and was instead several doors down. Shaking my head slightly seemed to do nothing with the strong numb as I turned back towards my destination.

The moment my office door was closed behind me, a sharp gasp erupted from my chest my knees buckled and my hands flew to my desk to save me from my fall. My skin, from my toes to the tips of my very fingers, tingling as the fight against my consciousness grew stronger every moment. But I was weak – I brought no challenge at all.

I could hear someone calling my name from behind me, the sound of my office door closing again resonating in my ears and much louder than I had remembered. Gathering whatever strength I could, I blindly turned towards the familiar voice and struggled to remain standing, but to no avail.

My mind had already shut itself off as I uttered my last words before surrendering to the engulfing darkness.

"I've failed again. He's gone."


	2. Introducing Dr Bella Swan

**A/N: Hey bb's!  
Glad to hear the story is enjoyable so far, and trust me, there's soooo much more to come!  
For those of you who are reading Forever and Always, I will be updating tomorrow given my beta beegurl13 is available to look it over. Clairvoyance is next (I'm about halfway through it) and I'll be posting up the edited chapters of C&P soon. PROMISE! My hands are full, and I apologize.  
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything and anything Twilight. If only I thought of writing about a teenage girl falling in love with a vampire... *sigh***

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"_Paging Dr. Swan to the children's ward front desk, please. Dr. Swan to the children's ward front desk."_

Anyone else would've probably wanted to bite their fist off after hearing their names summoned moments from walking into their job. Not that I could blame them – not everyone enjoyed their careers, but I wasn't just _everyone_.

I loved my job.

Becoming a pediatrician was one choice I made in my life that I knew I would never live to regret. I lived and breathed my job to the point where it wasn't just work to me – it was my calling.

I suppose it all started back in my hometown of Forks, Washington. Growing up in a small town was a little rough – everyone knew everyone, and gossip was something you'd have to deal with every single day. Your family history was no secret and mistakes made by generations before you, and the consequences thereof, were typically passed on to you. My father, Charlie, was Chief of Police, and because of that, my mother Renee and I had grown accustomed to hearing more about others than was normal. I guess the fact that we were related to the chief made us seem like easy targets for people to share gossip with. Even in my younger days, I knew I couldn't be happy living the same life that my parents had – Forks was never for me. I was destined for bigger things and dreamed of the city life. Everything I did was always about living the dream.

Funny thing was, I never knew what my 'dream' was.

I could see myself living in extravagant scenarios – big house, fancy high-class cars, designer clothes – but there was always that 'as what?' factor involved.

That problem was solved when my teenage days came around, and so began the time to find my first job. Unfortunately for me, Forks was a small town with even smaller opportunities. Endless searching and applying brought me nothing, until I was approached by a neighbour one afternoon. Mrs. Crowley was clearly in a rush, looking extremely frazzled as she banged on our front door and practically begged me to watch her daughter for a couple of hours while she went out of town for an emergency.

Those couple of hours eventually turned into regular weekly babysitting appointments after we both realized how good I was with three year old Stacy. Apparently, she was a bit of a demon child and other known babysitters in town always steered away from her, but Stacy had seemingly taken a pretty good liking to me. It was only a few months later when I found myself regularly babysitting about a dozen children in Forks. I would feed them, play with them until they were completely tired out, and somehow I always knew exactly what to do when one was hurt or feeling a little sick. It all just came naturally to me, and I took advantage of my natural born 'talent'.

It was then that I found my dream.

_Children._

I was a strong believer that children were the future of our world, and we should do everything in our power to keep them safe. I could still remember watching the news when I was younger and my parents finding me sobbing as I tried to understand why the poor children in those third world countries had to face such hardships. My brother Emmett took up that job by trying to help me understand in the simplest way he could.

It was extraordinary for someone as large as Emmett to have an even larger heart, but I always believed that God had worked harder on my brother than he did on others. Emmett was perfect in every way. He took up the 'protective brother' role extremely well though there was only a two year gap between us, and I remember wanting to pummel him sometimes for it, but absolutely beaming when he engulfed me in his huge bear hugs. His deep dimples and soft blue-grey eyes were a plus to his humorous personality, and he had no trouble getting those around him to effortlessly fall in love with him. Emmett had a charming personality and wouldn't hurt a fly – unless that fly hurt his baby sister.

A baby sister that was _way_ too protective of her big brother.

I could still remember the girls I had scared off, them running away in tears, when they showed any interest in Emmett. Any girl who did not prove herself worthy to me was immediately dropped by him as well. I could still remember his reaction every time another girl would run out of our home.

"_Baby Bell, why would I want to spend my time with a girl like that?" he always asked, pushing back a stray tendril of hair behind my ear. "If she doesn't love my baby sister as much as I do, then she's not worth it. You're more important to me than any other girl."_

Those words were the only thing that reassured me I was doing the right thing for him. I wasn't trying to be controlling or acting like a bratty little sister, I just didn't want my brother to be alone. I wanted him to be happy and for him to have the 'perfect' girl.

That's where Rosalie Hale comes in.

She was blonde, stunning, curvy in ways every woman would envy, and a spitfire of a woman. She always managed to counter my sneaky tactics with her own cunning ones, and finally I told Emmett that if he let her go, I was going with her. My plans on getting her to break were pointless. The first night I tried, Emmett had left us both staring daggers at each other to grab dinner. I can clearly recall looking around the kitchen as we sat at our table as I was deciding which perfect plan to let loose on her, as well as Emmett's shocked face when he came back to the two of us painting each other's nails and giggling like school girls. The rest, as they say, was history.

They had started dating in their senior year of high school, and were now happily married and living near me in Seattle. They had just moved a few months before and I couldn't have been happier knowing my brother and his family were only minutes away from me. Then again, I was pretty sure my nieces were even happier knowing they could come see their Aunt Bella whenever they wanted.

After a few years of broken hearts and painful tears, Rosalie had finally found out she was pregnant. Her fertility had always been an issue – they'd found out shortly after their wedding that Rosalie was not as fortunate as other women when it came to bearing children. We always made sure to be careful of her feelings when necessary, but I knew Rosalie's heart was breaking because she couldn't bear Emmett a child. The fact that their love was completely unbreakable kept their heads up and it motivated them to keep trying, which is what finally brought my adorable twin nieces into our lives.

Olivia and Sophia were gorgeous little three going on thirteen-year olds who were the light of both Emmett and Rosalie's lives. They were alike in almost every single way – wavy blonde hair, ivory skin and lovable faces. The one way that could tell them apart immediately was that they didn't share the same eye colour – Olivia's were blue like Emmett's, while Sophia shared Rosalie's hazel eyes. And when you got to know the girls, you could tell them apart from their mannerisms. Where Sophia was a mischievous, energetic and sometimes assertive child, Olivia was quiet, timid and extremely sensitive.

The support from my parents, brother and Rosalie kept me striving for my own success and kept my dream alive. Tears, anger, frustration and endless amounts of stress were worth it for my dream to finally be in my hands.

Now, at the age of twenty-eight, I was head of the Pediatric Ward at Seattle General Hospital.

Unsurprisingly, my promotion had come as a shock to many, and had caused quite a bit of an uproar with some. I couldn't have cared less about the drama that came from promoting a young woman to such a high stature. Hell, I worked hard to get my doctoral – graduating early both in high school and in college wasn't an easy feat. It didn't seem to matter for a lot of my co-workers, though it eventually got to the point where the board of directors of the hospital had a board-wide meeting to discuss my promotion. Despite attempts by my opposition, my dedication shined, and though I still faced many of those harsh individuals on a daily basis, it never deterred me from my goal. I knew what I wanted and I knew what I was there for, so there was no way I wasn't going down without a fight. And I never did. Not only that, but I had one faithful person by my side who always fought just as hard as I did.

The phrase "you learn from the best" thoroughly affected my life and career when it came to Carlisle Cullen.

I met Carlisle when I first began my internship at Seattle General. He was the chief surgeon on staff at the hospital and from the very first day I'd tripped over my feet and into his office, it was an instant, treasured relationship. He was another father-like figure for me, which really benefited me when the homesickness kicked in. Carlisle and his wife Esme always had their doors open for me whenever I needed it, and even when I didn't. Being the very family-oriented person I was, it was one of the main reasons why I kept on pushing. There were times when the stress was basically eating me alive – both at home and with school. There were times where I wanted to just drop out and go back home to my parents so badly, but it was Carlisle and Esme who pulled me back to reality when I had almost grabbed my luggage. I couldn't bring myself to unload on my parents after how hard they'd worked, helping me financially to get through all of my education. I dropped more emotional baggage than I should have on Carlisle and Esme, but they never once complained. They were welcoming, warmhearted and more loving than any person could have ever wished for.

It was for those reasons that it wasn't surprising whatsoever when their children were just as amazing.

"Bella!" _Ah, speak of the devil._ I smiled widely as my pixie-like best friend came into view.

Alice Cullen was the petite, raven-hairedand insanely beautiful best friend of mine who constantly kept me on my toes, and I couldn't have loved her any more for it. We'd met the very first time I had gone to the Cullen's house for dinner, and I could tell that we were going to be very good friends. Well, the fact that Alice told me as much immediately after introducing herself helped me come to that conclusion.

"Hey Shortie!" I giggled when she playfully smacked my arm at my teasing nickname for her. I knew she was annoyed by it, but her reaction afterwards kept me going every single time. "What are you doing here?"

In that very instant, I could tell that something was wrong. The usually vibrant Alice Cullen looked emotionally drained, dark circles under her emerald green eyes and wearing clothes that on a normal day would never have been Alice approved.

"Can't I come by and see my best friend?" Alice teased and smirked, but I knew when she was trying to cover her feelings. I raised a questioning eyebrow and grew worried when an upset sigh left her lips. "I'm sorry, I know you hate when I do that. Truth is, I did come here to see you but not for the reason you're thinking. I need a favour."

My smile immediately dropped. "Alice, you know I'd do anything for you. Tell me what you need and I'm on it."

As she gazed at me, I could feel my heart breaking for her as pain and sorrow filled her eyes. They glistened with unshed tears and a broken sob left her lips.

"Bella, please. I need you to save my niece."

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**Another cliffie. I'm terrible, I know. How about you tell me how terrible I am in a review, yeah? ;)**


	3. Madison

**Huge thanks to Brandi aka beegurl13, I would be nothing without you.  
I'm so happy with the responses to Breathe Me so far! Thanks for sticking with me you guys!  
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight. What do I own? Tickets to the midnight showing of Eclipse. ;)**

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**BPOV**

"Okay sweetie, take a few deep breaths," I said soothingly, consoling Alice as much as I could before she became more distraught. She let out one more strangled sob before taking in a deep breath, and I pushed a strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear. "There you go, you're alright. I know you're upset right now, but you know what you need to do, right? You need to be strong for yourself and your family, but mostly your niece."

She sniffed as I wiped one tear-stained cheek with my thumb, then reached over and wiped the other. "You're right, Bella. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I chastised. "You have nothing to apologize for. Now, tell me what's going on."

Being as close with Alice and her parents as I was, I had still never met her older brother, Edward. I had been shown pictures, and had also seen them on the fireplace mantle in their home, but that was it. From what I had heard, Edward was a very successful lawyer in Chicago and was father to a little girl. Carlisle and Esme were always praising their eldest son when he was brought up in conversation, but I could always catch their solemn glances at one another before it was masked with their usual warmth. Though I had never willingly pried into finding out more about Edward's life, over the years I found myself catching comments here and there about Edward from his family. From what I understood, he had been married for a short period of time before divorcing his wife, and their relationship was nothing but hostile. I never found out, nor did I ask, why Edward lived in Chicago so far away from his family, but again, it was none of my business so I kept myself out of it. Even if he was possibly the most gorgeous man I had ever laid eyes on.

I was sure that pictures didn't do him enough justice – with emerald green eyes, tousled bronze hair and perfectly chiseled jaw. There were no words to describe how incredibly handsome he was, and I sometimes found myself lost in his eyes when looking at pictures of him. I always reprimanded myself for acting like such a crushing teenager in moments like those, but I couldn't help the lusty dreams from then on.

Let's just say a pair of striking green orbs had been haunting my nights since that first picture.

In that moment, I pushed all of those fantasies aside – there was a little girl in my hospital waiting for me to help her, and God knows I would do everything in my power to do exactly that.

"Her name's Madison Anne Cullen," Alice whispered softly after we'd stepped into her room, lovingly caressing the beautiful little girl's face.

Even in her sleeping state, I couldn't help but be in awe over the stunning child lying helpless in the hospital bed before me. With long copper curls fanning over her pillow, my heart ached over how frail she looked. Just imagining her soft, angelic features beaming in a large smile was enough to make me break. A child should never look as broken as Madison did – ever.

Giving Alice a moment with her niece, I picked up the patient chart from the end of Madison's bed and had to hold in my shocked gasp. She was facing severe hypothermia from exposure to freezing cold conditions and though she was currently stable, I knew from her stats that there was a long way to go for Madison to make it through.

She needed to fight hard to get through this, but there was no way she could do this alone.

There was no way I would let Madison slip through my fingers. I would bring this beautiful little girl back to her perfect health, and to her family.

There was no room for failure.

"Alice," I whispered, waiting a few moments before she turned her head to give me her full attention. "I don't want to take this time away from you, but I have to check Madison's vitals and her test results."

"Oh, of course. I'll wait outside."

"No, no. You're more than welcome to stay," I reassured her, smiling gently. "I just need some room to work for a bit, and then you can sit by her again."

Once Alice nodded in confirmation, I took to my usual checks and slowly found myself growing with tension and nervousness. Not only that, but I couldn't help the anger bubbling up within me. This poor child was only four years old – there was so much life for her to experience, yet she was sitting here—in a hospital room—and basically fighting for her life. Her vitals were so weak, it even brought me pain. No matter how upset I was over her frail state, the anger was overpowering it. After finishing the last one, I whipped around to face Alice.

"Alice," I said harshly, "what the hell happened to her?"

It surprised me to see Alice's face darken and expression twist into pure fury, surely much angrier than my own. "Bella, don't."

"What do you mean, don't?" I asked incredulously. "This little girl is fighting a war against hypothermia, and you're telling me don't? I'm her doctor, I need to know."

"I'm serious, Bella. You need to drop it." Her eyes snapped up to mine and narrowed, showing me a side of Alice I had never seen before, but it didn't even phase me. There was nothing that would keep me from finding out who did this to Madison, and making things right.

Before I could utter another word, a throat clearing from the door made us both turn our attention towards it. We had both clearly been too consumed with our own lividness that we hadn't noticed Carlisle and Esme enter Madison's room.

"Alice, sweetheart," Esme said softly, coming to Alice's side and placing her palm on her cheek. Alice's expression slowly relaxed before a stray tear slipped from the corner of her eye. "Why don't you and I go and get some coffee. You must be exhausted."

"I'm fine, Mom," Alice sighed but nodded her head in resign after getting a look from Esme. "Yeah, I guess I could use some caffeine."

They both wordlessly left Madison's room, but not before Alice turned and gave me a long, meaningful look. I understood it was one of apology and I exchanged hers with a small smile and nod, putting it past us already. Once they'd left, Carlisle sighed and took his place beside his granddaughter. I couldn't help but notice the dark bags underneath his eyes, making him look much more aged than he was.

"You'll have to forgive Alice. Her niece means everything to her."

"There's nothing to forgive, Carlisle," I said, waving him off and standing on Madison's other side. "I can understand – I would be distraught if anything happened to the twins."

"Yes, I agree," Carlisle nodded at me before looking at Madison somberly. "My family is heartbroken, but it's mostly my son who I'm worried about. He's breaking apart. He doesn't want to lose his daughter."

I blinked back the tears that had gathered and clouded my vision, ducking my head to avoid Carlisle's gaze. "There's no pain worse than losing a child, Carlisle."

Once I gathered myself, I looked up to see Carlisle staring at me solemnly but was thankfully saved from a painful moment when one of the nurses, Angela, walked into Madison's room with her test papers. If her vitals had worried me before, the test results made things infinitely worse. Carlisle must have noticed the grave expression on my face as I looked the papers over multiple times, trying to find some sort of error, and spoke up.

"Bella?" He probed, eyebrows knitting in concern. "What is it? Will she be okay?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat and shook my head. "Carlisle, it's not good."

"Oh, no," he whispered brokenly, placing his hand on his mouth.

I rushed over to his side and took one of his hands in both of mine. "Carlisle, you can't give up. You and I both know that we've fought against the worse cases and miracles have happened. You just need to pray and have hope.

"Look at this beautiful child, Carlisle." I waited until he lifted his glassy eyes to her sleeping face. "If I've learned anything from your family over the years, it's that you're all fighters – even this little one right here. So you need to stay strong and fight just as hard as Madison is now. I will do everything it takes to bring your granddaughter back to you, I promise you that."

Carlisle took in a shaky breath and nodded, placing his other hand on top of mine and squeezing gently. "Thank you, Bella. I have every ounce of faith in you."

"Don't thank me, Carlisle," I shook my head, offering him a small smile. "You and I both know how stubborn I can be. I won't stop until Madison opens her eyes again and hears you tell her that you love her."

He chuckled lowly and wiped a fallen tear from his cheek. I knew, without a doubt, that Madison belonged to an extremely loving family and there was nothing that would stop them from having her in their arms once more. That was my drive – that was what kept me pushing to bring back their happiness. There was nothing I wanted more.

I placed Madison's chart back in its holder and brought a chair to face Carlisle. I knew he figured out why when he sighed and began to explain before I had to even ask.

"I know that there's little you know about my son, Edward," Carlisle began and I nodded in agreement. "However, as troubled as this makes me to admit it, it was a completely conscious move on our part."

My eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "Carlisle, I don't understand." He raised his eyebrow at me, a silent comment to not interrupt him, which was something I had seen many, many times. I bit my bottom lip to hold back the amused smirk waiting to emerge, which was totally unnecessary at the moment. "Sorry, zipping my lips now."

He grinned, though it never quite reached his eyes, before letting his expression drop once more. "Esme and I would always joke that my son had too much pride and it would come right back at him someday. Ever since he could walk, I remember him dealing with his own problems – regardless if it was a broken toy when he was an infant or a bad grade during his school Edward has dealt with many obstacles in his years, and he's made it very clear that he's not proud of some of the things he has done. In respect for my son, we don't speak of any of his ill bearings, and are careful when we speak of him around others – this is why your knowledge of him is limited. I apologize on behalf of my family for leaving you in the dark, but I'm confident that you understand why we'd done so.

"Now, Edward's always been extremely driven since he was a child – mastering everything he put his mind to, whether it was with his beloved piano or his schoolwork. Unfortunately, that took away from many of his other necessary early experiences.

"Edward distanced himself with basically everyone once he'd gotten into law school, other than myself, Esme and Alice. We weren't happy with that, but we realized that it was an unconscious act of his. He was so focused with his studies that he ignored everything else. After he moved to Chicago for school, we tried to keep in touch with him as much as we could, but it became a very hard task when his studies became more demanding. Now, taking all of this into consideration, you'll have to imagine our surprise when Edward had called us one night, completely distraught, admitting to us that he had gotten a girl pregnant.

"Jessica was another girl who had been in the same college, and long story short, she did all she could do to get Edward's attention. Once we went to see Edward in Chicago, the truth finally came out – Edward had gone out drinking with a few friends and woken up in someone else's bed. Turns out, it was Jessica's. To this day, we're not sure whether she had something to do with the fact that Edward had blacked out early into that evening or not, but it's not something we'd put past her. She's a manipulative woman, but Edward, having been raised by his mother and I, wanted to do what he believed was the right thing. Jessica said she was having the baby, so Edward married her. They went to city hall and had a quick marriage, and that was it."

Carlisle stopped for a moment and stared at the wall, clearly lost in his own thoughts as he brought his son's hard past back to light. "Edward stayed in Chicago after Madison was born, but we had no idea what was going on in his home. It was only a couple of days ago where he showed up on our doorstep with his bags in a rental car, looking completely exhausted and nothing like my son. After a long talk, Edward spilled everything. Jessica had manipulated him for his money and pursued Edward in hopes of being tied down to him. Shortly after Madison was born, she showed nothing but disgust towards the child and treated her terribly. They were still living together, but they slept in different corners of their home. The only thing that kept them together was Madison – Edward didn't want to take his child away from her mother.

"Now, I'm not sure why Edward made such a hasty decision to come home. He hasn't told me that yet—he says that he isn't ready. What I do know is that I have never been happier to have my son home, and my granddaughter. The thing that kills me is that I couldn't even take my granddaughter to the park before Jessica showed up on our doorstep yesterday, demanding her rights as Edward's wife.

"She told Esme that she was going to take Madison out for a walk in the park, but it was only an hour until Edward stormed in the house in hysterics, wondering where Madison was. He had rushed home when he had a feeling that something was wrong and immediately thought of Madison, but we assured him that she was with Jessica. It wasn't until he ran out of the house to find them that we grew more worried, so we followed him."

His chest expanded with the deep breath he took and his jaw clenched in obvious anger. "Jessica wasn't paying attention and Madison was playing in the snow. Only, underneath the snow was a frozen pond, and it wasn't completely frozen."

I gasped in realization, just imagining the smile on Madison's face as she was covered in snow, before it was replaced with terror once the ice gave way. Carlisle nodded as if confirming my thoughts and looked back to Madison.

"We got their as Jessica was trying to pull Madison out, but she was trying to keep herself from falling in more than wanting to get her daughter out. Edward ran in and pulled Madison out, practically falling into the water himself, but he got her out, nonetheless. So now we're here, and this beautiful child is lying in a hospital bed because her mother could have cared less about her well-being."

My hands clenched into tight fists to the point where I was sure my nails would leave permanent marks. I was shaking against the rage building up in me, ready to burst at any given moment.

"Where is she?" I asked, barely recognizing my own voice. Carlisle looked back at me, confusion written over his face and asked me who I was talking about. "Jessica, Madison's mother. Where is she, Carlisle?"

"Bella," Carlisle warned but I was having none of it. I jumped out of my seat and left Madison's room, heading straight for the waiting seats in the children's ward. I passed by Tyler, one of the security officers in the hospital and told him to follow me.

Once I got there, I saw Esme and Alice sitting on one side and another brunette sitting across from them. If it weren't for their glares at the woman, I would have had no idea who she was. Instead of looking like any real mother would have been if their child was in the hospital, Jessica looked completely uninterested and bored, staring intently at the Blackberry in her hands.

"Jessica?" I asked, ignoring Esme and Alice's questioning stares as Jessica raised her head to look at me.

"Yes?" She practically sighed, her voice practically begging me to wring her neck.

"Get out."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Excuse me? My daughter is here, I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh, your daughter?" I spat, glaring at her with such intensity and force that I could see her body flinch back. "Do you mean the child who is sitting in my ward, fighting for her life more than any four year old should? The child who means everything to this family, and is in there due to your faults?"

"Listen –"

"No, you listen," I interrupted, grabbing her arm and pulling her up from her chair. "There is nothing more than disgusts me than a parent who can't take care of their child. You should be completely honoured for being blessed with such a gem, but you can't even put down your pathetic selfishness for a child who knows no better. A child who obviously loves her mother, but is too young to realize how self-absorbed you really are. You don't deserve to be here and you sure as hell don't deserve her. So, I'll repeat myself once more. Get out of my ward. Now."

Her eyes widened in fear, flickering from my own to where Carlisle, Esme and Alice were huddled together.

"Either you leave, Jessica, or Tyler will escort you out."

Jessica finally gave up, spinning around and grabbing her purse. She glared at me once more before walking away. I tilted my head towards her at Tyler, letting him know to follow her out and told Carlisle that they could find me in my office if they needed. I had to clear my head and get rid of the delightful thoughts of different ways to torture Jessica. Also, I had to make some calls and make arrangements for little Madison. I would do whatever it took to make her smile again, if it was the last thing I'd do.

**EPOV**

I watched her luscious form strut away from me, only catching her soft curves and wavy chestnut hair flowing down her back. I was completely enraptured with the woman before me and I hadn't even seen her face. The only thing I caught was her practically growling at Jessica and throwing her out of the hospital, which I was so fucking relieved about. I could hear the mystery woman putting Jessica in her place as I was walking towards the children's ward, and I practically rushed my way to catch a glimpse of this woman who had me with just the sound of her voice and obvious adoration towards my daughter.

Unfortunately for me, I hadn't moved quickly enough, but was definitely lucky enough to catch her silhouette before she disappeared into another room.

Whoever she was – I had to know her.

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**Pretty sure that EPOV deserves some love... no?**


	4. Author Update!

**Hey everyone!**

**Many apologies, this is not an update, as you can see. Well, not a chapter update, but an author update, you could say.**

**You're probably wondering where the hell I've been. I'm wondering that too. I know there may be no point in giving excuses to some readers, but I'll be honest – I'm not purposely holding back from writing. As those of you may know from following me on twitter, I've been taking some summer classes at my university, so that's been keeping me extremely busy. It's hard having extra time when you're studying for a course that's technically a 3 month course, crammed into 5 weeks. Plus, my grades dropped this year a lot after my grandfather passed away, so it was crucial that I do well in them. Pair that up with work, and I have no life at all. I've tried to find time to write, I truly have, but because I've been so stressed with everything else, it's like a stress induced writers block. Does that make sense? I hope so.**

**Anyways, I have only one class this term, but I actually have a boatload of family over here on vacation (including my two young cousins) so there's another reason why I can't have time to myself. Seriously, the moment I sit to check my e-mails, I get pulled to bring someone out or go down to Niagara Falls (which has so far been four times in the last week, not including tonight).**

**So, basically that's why I've been MIA. I hope you all still love me, I'M STILL HERE! I haven't gone anywhere, and won't be going anywhere. I just have to set my priorities straight for the next few months so I can still be in university… haha. I hope you all understand, really. I wouldn't keep you from reading any of my stories purposely.**

**As of right now, I would say that updates would be back on schedule by the end of this month, if not early August. Please stick with me until then! You have no idea how much I would appreciate it. =)**

**If anyone would like to follow me on twitter at husmcn, please do. I usually rant on there, but mostly keep readers up to date with the fic schedule.**

**I hope you're all having an amazing summer. Go out and make mistakes that you never would – you only get to live once!**

**Lots of love,**

**husmcn**


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